I don’t know how far reaching this problem is. However, over the last 3 to 4 years I have been battleing Centurylink Phone Company for charging me KING County Sales tax and KING County 911 Services tax on my telephone bill instead of KITSAP County tax rates.

Because of this charging me for the wrong county taxes and 911 service, I am overchanged on the tax rate PLUS Kitsap County is not getting the sales tax revenue source nor the 911 service revenue funds so badly needed. read more »

Does the arrogance of the Bainbridge Island City Council know no bounds? Its most recent foray into nanny statism over plastic bags is proof that these elitists sincerely believe they have been anointed with a superior form of intelligence, and therefore know what is best for the obviously uneducated masses better than we do.

They cite no scientific evidence that people don’t recycle, and/or reuse plastic bags — because there isn’t any. We do it every day. read more »

One of the reasons I have been proud to be a Washington resident is that for the most part, especially Kitsap County, we have an honest elections system. That is in contrast to King County’s reputation. I am sorely disappointed that the Democrat leadership has so little faith their ability to garner majorities that they stoop to measures that undermine the integrity of elections by introducing a bill to legalize Election Day registration in Washington state (HB 2204). read more »

I was appointed by Governor Gregoire to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) in 2010, and would like to offer some insight as a committee member.

Fact: We need to find an additional $25 million in toll revenues for Fiscal 2013 (July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013). 40 percent of this increase is due to bonds coming due. This is one of ten bonds that were taken to construct the bridge because of the “just in time” construction and bond schedule, which saved taxpayers millions of dollars in interest. Also, the first installment of deferred sales tax is due next year (the agreement was to start paying the $57 million in sales tax over a span of 10 years working out to about $5.7 million per year). read more »

ITEM — Letter grades have disappeared from many elementary schools and they may soon fade from middle and high schools as well. Students are getting report cards with ones, twos and threes instead of A’s, B’s and C’s. It’s called standards-based grading, focusing on which skills a student has mastered, rather than how hard he or she worked to attend class or turn in homework. Grading consultant Ken O’Connor said “instead of providing a single grade for a student, you get a profile of student performance.” read more »

I read where the largest employer in Waukesha, Wisconsin — General Electric (GE) — is planning to move its 115-year-old X-Ray Division from Waukesha, to Beijing.

In addition to moving the headquarters, GE will invest $2 billion in China. It will train more than 65 engineers, and create six research centers among other things.

This is the same GE that made $5.1 billion in the United States last year, but paid no taxes — and employs more people overseas than it does in America. read more »

An old TV commercial for an antacid once asked heartburn sufferers, “How do you spell relief?”

For thousands of western Washington people left in the dark by winter storms, the word is “p-o-w-e-r.” And it took more than a couple of Rolaids to deal with it all.

Normally, we flip a switch and the lights come on. We think nothing of it until a storm knocks out our power. Then we realize how important electricity is to our everyday lives. read more »

The so-called “payroll tax” is money taken out of your paycheck by the government and put into the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF) to fund your Social Security retirement income. The employees’ payroll tax rate was reduced in 2011 from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. This meant more take-home pay, but it also meant over $100 billion didn’t go into the SSTF. Congress previously passed a law requiring the 2 percent shortfall be taken from the General Fund and put into the SSTF — adding more than $100 billion to the national debt. read more »

Missing from the announcement of KPS’s abandonment of the individual market, is that before another carrier will write you, you will have to pass the litmus of screening by filling out a Standard Health Questionnaire. It doesn’t matter how many years you have been on the plan, if you amass too many points due to pre-existing conditions, you will be shunted into the expensive high-risk pool. read more »